Stray
by the27
Summary: CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN! The new version will be uploaded in August -- please look forward to it! c:
1. I: yu kanda is not amused

**Title:** Stray  
**Fandom:** -man  
**Rating:** T for Kanda's mouth, yet again  
**Pairing: **Kanda x Allen

**A/N: **Harroo~~~3 How's everyone today?

Anyway. To business.

This would be my second fic here on FFnet, **Stray,** which I do plan on making multi-chapter, if ya'll seem to like it.

This is **AU. **Don't like, don't read.

This is also **shounen-ai.** Again, don't read if you don't like.

Anywho, enjoyenjoy, don't hate me too much for my continuing lack-of-a-beta mistakes~

**xxxxx**

Kanda was not amused.

"U-um…"

"Just take the fucking soup and eat it."

Kanda ignored the disgusted looks he received from the other workers at his harsh words, returning their stares with his best 'if-you-say-anything-I-will-cut-you-open' glare before returning his gaze to the timid boy who had been standing on the other side of the counter just a second ago. _Had_, that is, until he'd been scared away by Kanda's harsh words. The dark-haired teen smirked slightly before snapping to the next person in line, "Do you want your fucking food or not?" Said person, who appeared just as timid as the boy before, flinched back a bit before holding out his bowl with trembling hands, into which Kanda poured a ladleful of warm, creamy soup. The man stuttered a quiet "thank you" before scurrying away, leaving Kanda free to serve the next person in line.

No, Kanda was most certainly not enjoying himself.

The month of December brought many things to the world, most of which Kanda hated. He hated the bright, colorful lights that seemed to adorn every single house he saw. He hated the way everyone was expected to be kind and giving and accepting and all that shit, since he was most definitely not _any_ of these things and he wasn't about to force himself into a drastic personality change just because the founder of the soup kitchen wanted him too. He wasn't required to do this stupid volunteer work – in fact, if It wasn't for the fact that Kanda wasn't to get into a good college that required a good amount of community service to be completed by every aspiring student, he would most certainly _not_ be here, which he had told said founder irritably on his first day of work. The man had then told Kanda that if they weren't in such desperate need of volunteers that they wouldn't even consider someone like Kanda, but alas, not many people had appeared they charitable that year and so Kanda was stuck serving soup to homeless folk under the watchful eye of everyone who seemed to expect that he would kill something at any moment.

Curse his fate.

He was ladling out his seemingly billionth bowl of soup when he happened to look up and see the boy he had frightened off earlier, sitting at a table in the far corner of the kitchen, alone. No one came near him, no one noticed him, and if Kanda hadn't seen one or two of the other tramps shoot frightened looks at the boy, Kanda would started to question whether the boy wasn't really there, or if he was some kind of spirit, or maybe a ghost. Of course, Kanda didn't believe in ghosties or ghoulies, even if the boy's strikingly white hair made that theory seem even more probable.

But Kanda wasn't one to worry about things that didn't concern him, and so he cast the boy from his mind and continued to begrudgingly pour soup into yet another bowl.

---

The sun had already begun to dip in a slow arc beneath the horizon before the kitchen announced that it was time to shut down for the night. Grumbles could be heard all around from the homeless who had been seeking momentary shelter from the snow outside, but eventually the kitchen emptied of all its patrons and was ready to close its doors.

All except for one boy who continued to sit silently in the corner.

Kanda was in such a rush to get _out_ of the place that he almost didn't notice that the distinct mop of white hair he had noticed earlier had not yet moved from his spot. He stopped, turning his head slightly so he could see the boy better. The kid wasn't moving at all, his eyes cast downwards and his bowl of un-eaten soup growing cold on the table. Kanda vaguely wondered if the boy was dead.

"Dear?"

One of the chubby women who regularly volunteered at the kitchen cautiously approached the immobile child, who made no move to indicate that he heard. "Child, the kitchen is closing you need to leave now…ok?"

The white-hairier boy remained immobile.

"D-dear?" The woman seemed unwilling to touch the boy for a reason Kanda couldn't quite grasp. Was there something wrong with the boy? He had seemed fine when Kanda had poured him his share of the soup…He scowled at the woman who was still trying to get the boy's attention without any form of physical contact, and the display was starting to irritate the long-haired boy. Gritting his teeth with annoyance, Kanda decided that it was time he intervened.

"Che." He stalked over to where the boy was sitting inanimately at the table and gripped his right shoulder. "The kitchen's fucking closed. Scram."

At Kanda's touch, the boy snapped to life almost immediately, his gaze shooting up to stare at Kanda like a deer caught in headlights.

"O-oh…" the kid stammered, silvery-gray eyes swimming with fear at the gaze of the older teen. But the boy did not move, instead beginning to tremble slightly and pull his coat closer to him. Kanda noticed that the boy's left hand was gloved, whilst the right was not. Peculiar.

Still the boy did not move. This annoyed Kanda further. "Well? Get moving."

"…" The boy was silent, and returned his gaze to the full bowl in front of him. He still did not raise himself from his seat. "I never ate…"

"Too bad." Impatient now, Kanda tightened his grip on the kid's shoulder and yanked the boy from his seat, causing a sharp intake of breath from the chubby woman and a distressed squeak from the boy.

"U-um-"

"OUT."

Kanda roughly dragged the boy towards the doors of the kitchen and shoved him out, watching as he stumbled and almost lost his footing on the slippery, snow-covered ground. He cast his dull, frightened eyes back to Kanda, once, before tearing off down the street, attempting to put as much distance as possible between him and Kanda.

Pleased with himself for dealing with the nuisance, Kanda had already taken a few steps in the direction of his home when he heard the voice of the woman from earlier tentatively call his name.

"Mr. Kanda?"

He whirled around, patience running thin, and shot his best glare at the chubby volunteer, which drained the remaining color from her face rather quickly.

"WHAT."

"W-well…" the woman stuttered, casting her eyes aside and bringing her hands up to rest curled together beneath her chin. "W-why were you not afraid to touch that boy?"

Kanda snorted. "Why should I be afraid of some fucking kid?" So there was some kind of fear that circled around this child. Interesting.

The woman was baffled. "….do you not know?"

"Know what?"

"That boy…" stammered the woman, eyes slowly filling with fear and…a slight hint of disgust. Kanda found himself getting angry again, clenching his fists slightly as he waiting for the rest of the reply.

"What about him?"

"That boy…is cursed."

**xxxxx**

**A/N: **Well, I actually ended that chapter in a way I did not expect to.

Guess that just makes it all the more interesting, no? Hahahaha, NO.

Anyway.

That's the first chappie~

If anyone wants me to continue it, I will.

….-thinksitfailslol-

Well, till next tiem,

- 27


	2. II: the cursed boy

**Title:** Stray

**Chapter: **Two

**Fandom:** -man  
**Rating:** T for Kanda's mouth  
**Pairing: **Kanda x Allen

**A/N: **…thirteen reviews.

WHAT THE CRAP 8,D

I don't deserve all the love ;___;

And twelve subscribers!

;w;

I'll try not to disappoint you all. I'll really try c,:

Anyway.

The usual warnings.

This is **AU. **Don't like, don't read.

This is also **shounen-ai.** Again, don't read if you don't like.

Also, **the little bonus at the very bottom is a _little _risque. **Sorry, I just had to include it xD

Enjoy~

**xxxxx**

"Well, well, Yu-chan…this is a mighty pleasant surprise!"

Kanda, at the moment, was quite torn between remaining stoic, as usual, or letting his control snap and instead strangle the idiotic redhead that was sitting behind a desk in front of him. Said redhead, however, was enjoying himself immensely – he casually reclined back in his chair, eying the angry man before him with his one glittering green eye, the other covered by a black eye patch he always wore for unexplained reasons.

"Cut the shit and give me answers, stupid rabbit."

"Now now, Yu-chan, no need to get all hissy at poor Lavi! If ya continue to be such a grumpypants, maybe I won't tell ya anythin', hmm?" the man known as Lavi replied, now leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his desk and the palms of his hands were pressed up to his cheeks.

Kanda twitched, murderous intent now threatening to overrule his common sense. Clenching his fists, he growled, "Do _not_ try my patience."

Lavi pouted, his face a mask of mock-hurt. "Boo, Yu-chan, you're no fun." Kanda twitched again at the continued use of his first name, but knew that if he was ever going to get anything out of the annoying redhead he was going to have to keep his temper in check and refrain from killing Lavi. For now.

Kanda let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and unclenched his fingers, instead settling for a death-glare in the cheery man's direction.

Lavi noticed the obvious restraint Kanda was employing and decided that in order to avoid death in the near future, he would have to sacrifice his amusement and tell the dark-haired man what he wanted to know. "Fiiine, I'll give ya some info. Jus' give me a moment and I'll let ya in on what I know, yeah?"

Kanda snorted. "Good."

Lavi grinned at the man and leaned back once more before kicking his feet up onto his desk and closing his one eye, focusing on ordering all the information he had stored away in his head.

Kanda watched this process through narrowed eyes, trying and failing to be patient as the redhead collected his thoughts. Sometimes the man didn't understand why he put up with Lavi – they had 'met' back in their sophomore year of high school – 'met' meaning Lavi's near-death at the end of Kanda's shinai in a dark alley one night as Kanda was coming home from kendo practice – and the stupid rabbit had bothered and annoyed him ever since. In fact, it seemed to Kanda was Lavi's sole purpose in life was to be as annoying as possible, and the redhead excelled in that category in all regards. If it weren't for the fact that Lavi had a photographic memory, access to massive amounts of information that came from god-knows-where, and had a certain amount of influence in certain things that could reap generous benefits when exploited properly (the previous two apparently coming from Lavi's mysterious, nomadic and rather affluent grandfather), Kanda would have cut the redhead's throat a long, long time ago.

But, as it were, fate seemed to have other plans.

Kanda had been waiting in brooding silence for a good five minutes before his patience snapped and he hissed, "Oy, stupid rabbit, are you going to tell me anything or not? Because I don't have the time to fuck around here for nothing."

Lavi lazily opened his one eye and shot a glare at Kanda for ruining his concentration. "Shush, Yu-chan, you and your vulgar mouth jus' killed my focus." After a few seconds in which Lavi stared at the ceiling and Kanda stewed in his anger, the redhead shut his eye once more and sighed. "…what was it you were wantin' t'know, again?"

It took the last of Kanda's self-control to keep from mauling the one-eyed man in front of him and instead replied, "Fucking rabbit, I asked you about the Cursed Boy."

"Oh. _Him._"

Lavi contemplated Kanda's reply for a moment before adding, "Well, about him?"

"Who is he?"

Lavi was rather taken aback by the ferocity in Kanda's voice. Lips curling into a sly grin, he chucked and said, "Ohoho, aren't you curious? If I may ask, why do you want to know, hmm?"

"Don't answer my question with another question!" Kanda barked, the question riling him up even more than before, if that was possible. Lavi noted the angry reaction and his smile widened.

"…guess I may _not_ ask, then. Well, hold on a sec, I'm thinkin'…"

Kanda didn't know why he had been so irritating at the redhead's question – well, more irritated than usual, anyway.

Maybe it was because he couldn't answer.

"Lessee…" Lavi's muttering brought Kanda back to attention and he stared intently at the green-eyed boy, who was racking his brains (Kanda reckoned that process didn't take too long) and eventually answered, "Well, he's cursed. Duh."

Kanda rolled his eyes. "I thank you for your wise interpretation. Do you actually have anything _useful_ in that hollow skull of yours?"

"Fft. O'course I do, silly. Nah, well, the kid's a bit…strange, yeah? His name's Allen." Lavi stopped for a second, as if he was trying to decide what or what not to say. "He used to live with this older fellow named Mana Walker – not his father, I don't think, but the closest thing the poor kid had to one. Well, at least before Walker died."

Kanda blinked. "Died?"

"Yeah. Arsonists set their house on fire, no idea who they are or what their motive was – Allen barely survived as it is, his left eye and arm are pretty messed up."

Kanda now knew why the boy known as Allen had been so keen on that coat of his. Did he not want people to see his scarred arm? And the boy's hair had been covering his left eye…

Kanda now wondered why he remembered these things.

"…did that answer your question, Yu-chan?" Lavi questioned, dragging Kanda back from his thoughts again.

Kanda pondered for a moment before answering. "…you call him 'cursed'. How come?"

Lavi's smile twitched slightly and slowly curled down into a frown, folding his arms over his chest and exhaling. "Well…after Mana Walker died, Allen was sent to an orphanage. Cute little kid like him, didn' take long for someone to come 'round and pick him up. Problem is…everyone who's attempted to adopt Allen Walker has met their unfortunate, premature end."

Kanda blinked once more. "You mean they died?"

"Yuuup. Every single one. First was a man named Howard Link, who perished in a train wreck while returning home from some kind of business trip. Next were the Lee siblings, who vanished after three months without a trace and were later found hanged in a forest near Berlin. Don' ask me how they wound up there, I have no idea. Anyway, you get the picture. Even the ol' man who ran the orphanage eventually met his end – died of a heart attack. Seeing how old he was, no one could really blame Allen for that 'un, put the poor kid was convinced there was some kind of curse folloin' him 'round. He was tired of having people drop dead 'cus of him, so after the orphanage chief kicked it he jus' took to the streets. Be livin' the hobo life ever since."

After he concluded his narrative, Lavi studied Kanda's expression, looking to see the long-haired man's reaction to the story of the Cursed Boy. To Lavi's surprise, Kanda was looking down, stoic as ever, as if he was digesting all that the redhead had said. When he looked up, however, the man's dark blue eyes _did_ betray emotion. It was an emotion that Lavi knew to be disgust.

"…why is everyone so afraid to touch him?"

Kanda's question caught Lavi by surprise, and it took the one-eyed man a while to answer. "Well, y'know…ya don' really wanna touch someone who's cursed, yeah?" He shrugged.

"…and if this is such a well-known story, how come I've never heard it before?"

At this, Lavi couldn't help but roll his eye. "With your winning personality, Yu-chan, I'm not surprised. Cold, anti-social bastards tend to be out of the loop, y'know."

"Fucking rabbit. I'm going to kill you."

"Uh-huuuuh. Jus' like last week."

"Shut up."

"Gladly."

Silence reigned.

After a while mulling over his thoughts, Kanda abruptly stood up and stormed out of the office, leaving a confused Lavi (who had by then engaged himself in a staring contest with the clock) to call out "Oy, Yu-chan, you can't jus' take off like that!", which was met with silence as Kanda put as much distance between him and the irritating redhead as possible.

Lavi sighed, slightly dismayed at Kanda's speedy disappearance, and leaned back once more to the point where his chair was about to topple over. Folding his arms across the back of his head, his glittering green gaze scrutinized the ceiling as he, too, mulled over the thoughts now storming in his head.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Yu-chan!" he cried out is dismay, laughing slightly as he did so. "But, y'know how the old saying goes, Yu-chan…if ya play with fire, yer gonna get burned."

**xxxxx**

**A/N: **Uwaaahh~! I'm finished with chapter two! 'Course, I sacrificed my math homework to do so, but who really cares about math these days? Not me, that's fer sure. (Note: Never take study tips from 27.)

Anyway, I wrote out this chapter both last night and during math class today and didn't really think it was any good as I read it on paper…but after transferring it onto Word and beta-ing it/tweaking it, I actually think it came out….relatively ok. At least I got to write Lavi. That was a bonus.

Oh, and I got to say that Link and Lenalee were dead c: That made me happy (although I'm a little sad 'bout Komui tho. Oh, well, cest la vie.)

Anyway! Sorry this chapter is lacking in Moyashi-chan, I thought that the whole cursed boy situation needed more explaining before I jumped right into Kanda meeting Allen again….but not to worry! That will be coming up in the next chapter, which I was originally going to save 'till next week 'till I learned that my big P.E. project I thought was due on Thursday is actually die next week 8,D So I'll probably have chapter three up, oh, either tomorrow or Wednesday. So that's good…if anyone cares, that is ;w;

In closing to my uber-rant-that-no-one-should-care-about, I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with this, I tried my best to make it interesting ^^ Next chap will be exciting, I promise!

So, till then,

27

**xxxxx**

***BONUS!***

_Kanda had been waiting in brooding silence for a good five minutes before his patience snapped and he hissed, "Oy, stupid rabbit, are you going to tell me anything or not? Because I don't have the time to fuck around here for nothing."_

_Lavi's eye twinkled and he broke into a rather perverse grin. "Well well, Yu-chan, I never knew you were into _fucking around_…"_

"…_.fucking perverted rabbit."_

"…_So you like fucking perverted rabbits?"_

"…_.I'm going to kill you."_

"_I love you too."_


	3. III: just two oblivious idiots

**Title:** Stray

**Chapter: **Three

**Fandom:** -man  
**Rating:** T for Kanda's mouth  
**Pairing: **Kanda x Allen

**A/N: **Heya everyone~, welcome to the third chapter of **Stray.** I can't express how happy it makes me feel to know there are people out there that are actually ENJOYING this, to a point, hahahaha. I'm not completely useless after all ;w;

Uhhm, anyway~

This is Chapter Three.

It's a day late, sorry xD;

Not only did I have to go to the hospital yesterday, but then my mom jacked my power cord so I couldn't type ANYTHING, and THEN she goes and grounds me from the computer for the rest of today! Grr. Luckily I was able to squeeze the last bit of life from my laptop and stick this chapter on a flash drive and type it at school….bleh.

And now, the usual warnings.

This is **AU. **Don't like, don't read.

This is also **shounen-ai.** Again, don't read if you don't like.

Enjoy~

**xxxxx**

He couldn't stand it.

Well, truth be told, Kanda couldn't stand a lot of things – a _lot_, which seemed to include almost everything and anyone except himself. But Kanda had found that, in the past seven days that he'd been unwillingly volunteering at the kitchen, this was by far the _most_ irritating thing he'd ever done (excluding being pulled into Lavi's many misadventures, which were _always_ infuriating). The other volunteers consisted of happy, charitable rainbow-hugging morons who thought that everything could be solved with a little _love_; the many hobos were whiney, needy, self-pitying wrecks who acted like he would slit their throats at any given moment; and every time Kanda glanced up for even a second that bright mop of white hair shone like a beacon and dragged his eyes back towards the Cursed Boy sitting alone in the corner.

Which, Kanda had to admit, annoyed him the most.

At first, Kanda had tried to ignore it. The day after his pleasant chat with Lavi he'd dragged himself back to the soup kitchen for another irritating volunteer session only to find that white-haired boy in line again, holding out his bowl to him with a strange look in his dull, silvery eyes. Kanda, of course, with all his usual rudeness, had given the boy some soup and shooed him away, just like the day before. However, _unlike_ the day before, the dark-haired man found himself peering up from his pot more often than necessary, and every time he did he could see the kid sitting at the corner of the farthest table, absentmindedly stirring the contents of his bowl, never eating anything. And once the day was gone and it was time for the kitchen to close, Kanda once again found himself in charge of the boy's exit, this time literally throwing him out the door before continuing on his merry way – if you could call anything Kanda did 'merry.'

It was during the following five days that Kanda noticed a peculiar thing about Allen that managed to irritate him further – although it wasn't something Allen did himself, no directly at least. It was the looks that Allen received that seemed to get on Kanda's nerves. Everyone seemed to be afraid of the young white-haired boy – no one approached him, no one talked to him, no one even sat at the same table as him. Their eyes filled with a mixture of fear, apprehension and hate whenever their eyes happened to pass over the boy, awkward stares and furtive glances that, for some reason, seemed to cause the anger in Kanda's chest to flare slightly and whoever happened to talk to him next would receive an even nastier remark than usual.

Kanda couldn't understand why he reacted this way. Being the apathetic, anti-social person that he was, the dark-haired man had never really given two shits about people who didn't contribute anything positive to his life experience, and the stupid Cursed Boy certainly wasn't doing anything like that, was he? But it couldn't be denied that Kanda had never paid this much attention to anyone like this before, and the man wasn't quite sure he was too fond of it.

Did that mean that he hated Allen Walker? Kanda didn't know.

---

It was at the end of the seventh day that something changed.

The day had begun with the usual routine – Kanda would arrive at sunrise, exactly thirty minutes before the kitchen opened. When the doors were flung open the homeless would start to arrive, and shortly after their opening the white-haired boy would arrive – quietly, silently, with that same look in his eyes. He stood in line with everyone else, received his usual bowl of coup from a glowering Kanda, sat down at his table, and did practically nothing for the rest of the day. The robotic routine he seemed to repeat every single day.

Except today, at least.

Sunset came with it's usual chorus of moans and groans from the gathered tramps, who then grudgingly filed out until only one was left; Kanda stalked out from behind the counter and, yup, there was Allen once again, sitting all by his lonesome in that jacket three sizes too big, staring at his lap with his hands clasped on his knees. A glare cast at the boy by one of the other departing volunteers sent the usual spark aflame in Kanda's head and he shot a poisoned look at the culprit before rushing over to where the Cursed Boy was sitting to perform his usual grab-and-toss routine, during which Allen usually stammered like a fool and squeaked with protest – although after the third time he didn't really squeak anymore. And _this _time, more than a stutter came from the white-haired boy's mouth. "…I know, I know, I'm going."

Kanda blinked, shocked. During the entire week he'd been there, Kanda had never heard Allen Walker actually _speak._ He'd stammered, yes, but these were the first coherent words the man had ever heard the white-haired boy utter. As expected, his voice was annoying. Very annoying. Kanda scowled at the boy through narrowed eyes, pondering the new development.

"…what."

Allen blinked at the taller man, confused. "Uhm, yes?"

"…you spoke."

"Well, yeah, I did! Is there a problem with that?" Now this was something Kanda had never expected to see - the little boy who always sat by himself in the corner table was actually acting _defiant._ He stared down into those silvery-gray orbs and noticed that they weren't as dull as before. What had happened?

"I never knew you had the brain power required to utilize human speech."

The boy scowled at Kanda's comment. "Hey! I'm not mentally retarded. I just…didn't think you wanted me to talk. Or something." He shrugged his shoulders. Kanda noticed just how _scrawny_ this kid was.

"…so you're just a stupid bean sprout."

Allen blinked. "…a sprout?"

"Yes. A stupid one."

Growling, the white haired boy sprang up from his seat and crossed his arms indignantly. "I am _not_ stupid! And why am I a sprout anyway?!"

Kanda snorted. This was also a first – normally the stupid little Cursed Boy refused to budge at all unless someone (namely Kanda) came along and physically forced him to. The long-haired man started to wonder if the kid had multiple personalities. "Because you're scrawny like one. Simple."

Allen started to say something, then stopped and dropped his gaze down and poked himself in the stomach. "…huh, I _am_ a bit thin." _Because you never eat your fucking soup, fucking bean sprout. _

Kanda smirked. "Exactly. Stupid bean sprout."

"But just 'cus I'm thin doesn't mean I'm a bean sprout!" Allen added for good measure. Kanda just rolled his eyes.

"Che."

They stood in silence for a while, Kanda staring down at the younger boy with his dark blue eyes, causing Allen to fidget slightly and avert his gaze. "Uhm…"

"Well?" Kanda cut in, a hint of a snarl in his voice.

"…well what?"

Kanda sighed irritably and pointed to the door. "You. Leave. Now that I know you're somehow capable of semi-intelligent thought, I shouldn't have to physically throw you put anymore. Stupid bean sprout."

At Kanda's words, Allen seemed to almost immediate deflate, his old self starting to take over again. His bright gaze dulled slightly as he looked back up at Kanda, like he was searching for something in those stormy blue orbs. "Oh…yeah. I guess I should, huh?" he said in a quiet voice.

Kanda rolled his eyes once more. "Then get going. Unless you _want_ me to throw you out?" He cracked his knuckles threateningly and Allen took a couple of steps back, not one to tempt fate.

"Of course not!" the white haired boy retorted, a bit of fire returning to his silvery-gray eyes. Kanda just smirked in response before turning on his heel to lock up the doors in the back of the kitchen, leaving Allen to watch his retreating back with sorrowful eyes. Sighing, Allen made his way towards the exit and stopped once he had his hand on the handle. He chanced one glance over his shoulder to see Kanda's back still turned to him, not moving, As if the long-haired man was waiting for him to leave before turning around. The thought crossed his mind and Allen felt his heart tighten uncomfortably in his chest. _This man…_

"Um. 'Bye then."

Kanda gave no indication that he had heard, and after hearing the door chimes clang he finally turned around to see that Allen had already disappeared. A light sigh escaped him and he stared out the window with his angry eyes, watching the sun cask long shadows as it sank further and further beneath the horizon, sucking away the sunlight and leaving only darkness.

_Just another person to hate me._

**xxxxx**

**A/N: **So that's Chapter Three, everyone! I've been thinking about naming these chapters, I have some good ideas for them.

Anyway.

I've had a couple of people mention that they wish the chapters were longer. Unfortunately, while a do type fast, I encounter so many writer's blocks it's not even funny. So, the cost of writing longer chapters would be that I would most likely update a lot less frequently.

So, what do you think? **Should I write longer chapters and update less frequently (at least once a week),** or **just keep the chapters the way they are and update at a steady pace (once every one or two days)? **I'd like your opinion on this.

Till next time,

27


	4. IV: let the wheels begin to turn

**Title:** Stray

**Chapter: **Four

**Fandom:** -man  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing: **Kanda x Allen

**A/N: **Nrr. Welcome to chapter four~.

Due to popular demand, starting _next_ chapter, the installments of **Stray** will be longer and, hopefully, better and more enjoyable for you to read. So look forward to that, ne?

Now, onto the usual warnings:

This is **AU. **Don't like, don't read.

This is also **shounen-ai.** Again, don't read if you don't like.

This chapter also contains some **violence.** And that was totally not a spoiler right there.

Just so you can fill your thoughts with unicorns and butterflies and rainbows before venturing forth.

And with that in mind,

Enjoy~

**xxxxx**

And so, life went on.

Kanda continued to volunteer at the soup kitchen well into December, his temper still terrible, and Allen remained a faithful patron who still sat in that desolate corner that had by now been unofficially reserved for him. But during the past few days Kanda had noticed both subtle and not-so-subtle changes in the boy's behavior. When he would walk into the kitchen on those snowy mornings, his eyes now glittered like little jewels in the morning light and he would flash a small smile in Kanda's direction (which earned the white-haired boy a poisoned glare) before settling himself in line behind the other tramps. His eyes still had that spark to them when it was his turn to be served, and he would softly say "Good morning," as Kanda ladled out his portion of soup. And the long-haired man would always reply "Che," and move on to the next customer. And while Allen was still reclusive little idiot who refused to eat more than a spoonful of his food, the kid was appearing less like a robotic doll each day. Well, at least, when he was around Kanda.

"Y'know, I've been wondering."

The eighth day found the two of them once again standing by the table Allen would always seat himself at, the boy sitting on the table with his legs crossed while Kanda sat backward on the bench, his arms folded and his eyes warily regarding the boy who had changed so suddenly in the space of a day. It was after sundown, and the other volunteers had given Kanda the task of locking up, so the long-hired man could remain at the kitchen for as long as he pleased. Normally, the man was eager to get the hell away from the one place he had found that he despised most in the world, but today there was a white-haired little bean sprout who seemed determined to yap at him until his ears fell off.

"Che."

Allen took that as permission to continue. "…what's your name?"

Kanda coughed and turned slightly so that he was now properly facing the boy sitting cross-legged on the table. "…you don't even know my name."

"Well, no, you never told me."

"…idiot bean sprout."

Allen scowled and leaned forward a bit. "Well, it's not my fault you never tell me anything."

The long haired man just rolled his eyes and replied, "…Kanda."

"…what?"

"That's my name, idiot. You asked."

The white haired boy blinked. "Oh….Kanda?"

At the sound of his name, Kanda twitched. "What?"

"Oh. Nothing. I just wanted to say your name."

After a few more minutes of bantering, Kanda grew sick of Allen's questions and threw him out before locking up the kitchen for the night and bolting down the street before the white-haired boy could say a word. But Allen was in a happier mood that night than he'd been in a while – he now knew Kanda's name.

---

"Kanda, Kanda!"

It was now the end of the tenth day and Allen was calling Kanda's name excitedly as the man appeared from behind the counter and prepared to lock up for the day, as usual. Kanda shot a glare at the boy but didn't reply, instead seating himself as he usually did nowadays pulled out today's newspaper. "What."

"I was checking the city notice board today, Kanda, and there was a poster there!"

The long haired man rolled his eyes and snorted. "That's what the notice board is _for_, idiot bean sprout."

Allen huffed at the insult but instead of retaliating continued on with his story. "Yes, Kanda I know that, but this was a poster advertising a _circus! "_He gave a little wiggle of joy at the mere thought of it, plopping down beside Kanda to stare at the man through his metallic eyes.

Kanda snorted once more and lazily flipped a page in the paper. "And why should I care about circuses? They're smelly, noisy and annoying."

"Because they're _fun!_" Allen cried, waving his arms in the air for emphasis. "They're full of animals and acrobats and magic and wonder and lots and lots of other really cool stuff! Well, at least," Allen said, a crestfallen tone sneaking it's way into his voice, "that's what I've heard."

"Che. Exactly. They're annoying."

Allen sulked in silence and Kanda couldn't help but smirk as he flipped another page in his paper.

---

The next day, Kanda noticed that Allen wasn't there.

He was halfway through pouring soup for a short, odorous hobo when a small, nagging thought in the back of his mind forced him to glance up and _not_ see that head of white hair that had usually walked through the door by now. A twinge of annoyance snaked its way through Kanda's body and he nearly splattered the next person in line with boiling liquid before he realized what he was doing. Scolding himself for letting his concentration wander so much, he continued performing his duty, even though his thoughts were now constantly being interrupted by the grinning face of a certain annoying little white-haired brat.

The morning agonizingly ticked by, every second feeling like days to Kanda as he kept looking up ,then down again, then up once more a few seconds later, dark-blue eyes scanning the kitchen for the familiar head of snowy hair that had neglected to arrive. A combination of anger, annoyance and worry whirled around in his head until he thought it would explode in a mess of homicidal rage if it weren't for, at long last, his eyes catching sight of the Cursed Boy nearly tripping over his own feet in his rush to clear the remaining distance between him and the long line of hungry tramps. Allen tilted his head to the side so he could spot Kanda's scowling face through the glass window and he smiled that small smile of his and the long-haired man snorted, then continued on his work, now slightly less angry and not nearly homicidal anymore.

By the time it was Allen's turn to obtain his meal, the sun had already begun its slow dip beneath the horizon. Kanda noticed that Allen looked, if possible, even thinner and scrawnier than the previous days, and he had a dull blue and purple bruise adorning his left cheek.

"…you're late."

Allen couldn't help it; he laughed. "I didn't know I was on a schedule."

Kanda ignored this and instead scrutinized the wound on the white-haired boy's face. It was quite large, about the size of a tennis ball, but this wasn't what caught Kanda's attention. Maybe it was because he hadn't bothered to look closely at Allen's face before, but now that he did, Kanda could see that the boy's left eye was completely obscured by bandages. Part of his newly-acquired bruise disappeared beneath the dressing, and the beginnings of a distinct, deep red scar was also visible directly beneath the beginning of the bandages. Kanda wondered why he had never noticed before – was he really that oblivious?

'_Arsonists set their house on fire, no idea who they are or what their motive was – Allen barely survived as it is, his left eye and arm are pretty messed up.'_

Kanda could now see what Lavi had meant – well, except for Allen's left arm, which was always covered by the sleeve of his coat and his left hand by a thin, white glove. Was the damage from the fire so terrible that the boy found the need to take such drastic measures to hide it? Kanda felt another pang of an unknown emotion jolt his heart and he viciously beat it down before asking, "What the fuck did you do to yourself, stupid bean sprout?"

"It's _Allen_, not bean sprout! And I'm not stupid either! And, to answer your question, I just fell down!" The heated retort caused Kanda to tch loudly and shake his head.

"…you _fell._"

The white haired boy seemed offended by that comment. "I'm serious! I'm really clumsy and I was walking down the street and tripped down the stairs and yeah…I got hurt. So what?"

The long haired man rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just shut up and go eat your soup.

Allen gladly did so, but as he walked away he rewound the conversation in his head until a wide grin swept the usual pale mask from his face. For a teeny, tiny moment, Allen was sure that Kanda had been worried about him.

---

Unfortunately, the good things in Allen's life didn't seem to last long.

The next day dawned in a similar way to the previous – the white haired boy did not show up at his usual time, but Kanda wasn't nearly as worried as before. The stupid brat was probably off tripping down more stairs like yesterday and would arrive eventually. But even that thought couldn't douse the small flicker of worry that pricked the man's mind. Especially when noontime had passed and there was still no sign of the Cursed Boy anywhere. And by evening, when the other tramps had slowly begun to depart and the bean sprout had not yet arrived, the tiny flicker began to flare in a roar of jumbled emotions that a now aggravated Kanda couldn't place.

Allen was always there.

Except today.

Why wasn't he here?

Was he sick of coming here?

Was he sick of the food? Or maybe something else?

Was he sick of Kanda?

This last thought blared like a siren as the long-haired man rushed out from behind the counter of the soup kitchen and yanked his coat from the hanger by the door. The bean sprout would have hell to pay if Kanda found his moseying around somewhere, not knowing how much his absence had affected Kanda. This was all the stupid bean sprout's fault – it was his fault for being so helpless, his fault for always being there, his fault for causing Kanda's emotions to jumble up in such a mess.

He tossed his keys in the face of another volunteer and shot a hurried, "I'm leaving early, lock up," to her before bolting out the door and leaving the few remaining persons a the kitchen blinking owlishly at his fast retreating back.

---

"_Where the fuck do you think you're going?"_

_He stopped, hearing rough voices and fast footsteps approaching from behind. He cast his eyes back to see a gang of men rushing at him – he could see his own dull eyes reflected in their angry ones in the split-second before hands grabbed him by the shoulders and rammed him against the alley wall. The cold edges of the brick dug through his coat into the soft flesh of his back and he could almost feel the poisoned looks the men were giving him; angry, accusing looks that, deep down, he knew he deserved._

"_Fucking kid! You think you can just strut around like you actually mean something? Like you aren't a piece of disgusting shit? Answer me, boy!"_

_He didn't. He never did._

_A fist connected with his already maimed cheekbone and he barely registered the pain beating through his skull as another clenched hand drilled into his abdomen and he fell sideways to the ground, feeling a warm liquid bubble up in the back of his throat. He was used to the taste of blood by now. He was kicked and shoved and kicked around some more, a new, colorful collection of cuts and bruises quickly being acquired due to the constant beating. A moment of calm gave him a moment to gasp for air before a strong hand lifted him up by the collar of his shirt and the back of his skull made contact with the stone behind him – stars merrily danced before his eyes and he could no longer register the cold touch of blood trickling down the back of his neck. _

_Mana._

"_You little shit! Say something!"_

_I'm sorry, Mana._

_Images flashed through his mind as he felt himself loose grip on his consciousness, a whirling orchestra of noises and emotions and sights and thoughts running rampant in his tortured mind. The small part of his brain that was still aware of his surrounds quivered as wiry fingers wrapped themselves around his throat, locking his breath in his chest, draining his life through rough, cold hands._

_I can't hold you first in my heart anymore, Mana._

_The thoughts of the previous week and a half shone like welcome beacons and he lost himself, reliving the past nine days in every detail he could remember. Back to the firs day, in which he had looked up into storm, dark blue eyes for the first time and had felt his heart skip a beat at the snarling voice that accompanied them. And the face that belonged to that man, an angry face with angry eyes and a barbed tongue that made the small part of him that was still him shine through like no one but Mana had ever done before. _

_I couldn't save you back then. And now I'm…replacing you, almost._

_Darkness was beginning to creep at the corners of his mind, wrapping tendrils around everything that he held dear – himself, his memories, everything was slowly being eaten but the suffocating black. He held on, he fought, he tried to draw strength from the thought of the man that had saved him from himself, but to no avail. _

_I'm the worst, aren't I?_

_Vaguely, he wondered if the man would miss him. Would anyone miss him? A sad, fait smile touched his lips before being taken, like everything else, by the evaporating darkness._

_I'm so sorry, Mana._

_His last thoughts were a jumped mess of words, feelings, memories, wishes, dreams—_

'_Che, idiot bean sprout.'_

_He couldn't help but chuckle weakly. His last thought…an insult._

_I'm sorry, Mana...Kanda..._

_Please forgive me._

**xxxxx**

**A/N:** Aaaand there we have it, the finale of chapter four! It was short as well, I'm sorry, I hope you enjoyed it anyway – I was on fire at during the last scene, seriously, I think I may be a sadist at heart or something. Anyway.

**Today's my birthday! **I'm glad I could submit this chapter on the day I turn 15. That makes me happy. For some reason.

Anyway!

I hope you enjoyed another segment of my craptastic writing. The next chapter should be up by **December 12,** so please, if you feel like it, look forward to it.

So, until chapter five,

27

(I swear I'll start making the chapters longer…)


	5. interlude

**Title:** Stray

**Chapter: **--

**Fandom:** -man  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairing: **Kanda x Allen

**A/N: **….hahaha.

This is what I get for procrastinating =w=;;

NOT ONLY was I supposed to have this done YESTERDAY…

…but it's not even a full chapter 8,D –shot-

Well, I needed to get an update in plus an important announcement regarding the next update of **Stray,** so I needed SOMETHING to add to the story and I knew I wouldn't have a full chapter done by the end of today.

Said message will be announced at the end of this pre-chapter. Hahaha.

Anyway.

This is **AU. **Don't like, don't read.

This is also **shounen-ai.** Again, don't read if you don't like.

Andandand, please dun kill me for the extremely short pre-chapter 8,D Chapter five will be amazing, I promise.

Enjoy…or not xD –shot again-

**xxxxx**

_Voices._

_All he could hear were echoing sounds and thoughts and noises and static. He couldn't identify the source of the voices, nor whom they belonged to – it was all background music in the dark expanse of his mind that he was confined to. He let the sound surround him, envelop him, to whisper in his ears and tell him 'Everything will be alright…'_

_Even if he knew that it was a lie._

_He lifted his deformed hand to reach out into the never ending sea of black above him, hoping to somehow catch the voices between his fingers and hold them close to him – something precious he could keep safe and true to him in this suffocating space. But the sound taunted him, just out of reach, dancing away from his hand and almost laughing at his pitiful attempts to soothe himself._

_Alone in the dark._

_Completely alone._

_The fingers on his left hand twitched slightly and he brought them down to hover in front of his eyes, red appendages with dead skin that pushed so many people away from him. He turned his palm to the sky so he could spy the blackened fingernails and cross-shaped scar adorning the back of his hand, a feeling akin to self-pity bubbling in his chest – but before it could surface he beat it down, the echoing voice of Mana now droning out the other sounds spiraling in the darkness; 'Keep walking.'_

_He had nowhere to go._

'_Keep walking.'_

_There was no one waiting for him._

'_Keep walking.'_

_Was he expected to keep going down a path with no end?_

'_Keep walking.'_

_But he had nowhere to go._

_-_Idiot bean sprout, you're going to kill yourself.-

_A jolt sparked his eyes open and he gasped, bolting upright as the tendrils of a long-ago conversation threaded into his mind._

-No, I won't! And my Name is Allen!-

-You will if you continue to get no nourishment! Eat your fucking soup!-

-I don't want to!-

_He almost laughed at himself then, other memories surfacing, one by one, to float by his eyes and brighten his darkness. Where had they gone? Why hadn't he seen them before? But the minute he desperately reached to grab hold of these thoughts then shattered into pinpricks of light that were swallowed by the shadows of his ravaged mind, leaving him alone in the dark again._

_He almost felt like falling down and crying. Again._

_Already a hot tear had escaping from his eye and had fallen down to break the monotony of black and send ripples through his head. _

_True, he had no where to go._

_But Allen had never liked going along with a plan anyway._

_He could make up his destination as he went along._

_And so, armed with the memories or the memories that had drifted just beyond his reach, he stepped a foot forward just as, back in the realm of flesh and blood, a finger on his cursed left hand twitched as his marred body was carried through the night-shrouded streets of the city by a long-haired man with hair the color of his darkened mind._

'_Keep walking.'_

**xxxxx**

**A/N: **And now for my pathetic excuse as to why this isn't an actual chapter, like I promised. The answer is that, frankly, **Yullen Week **is just around the corner and don't the time at the moment to update with a full-on chapter. I'm so sorry!

Anyway, when will you see the next installment of **Stray,** you may ask?

….**sometime after Christmas **8,D –prepares for incoming missiles-

But, for serious, I _swear_ Chapter Five will be fifty bajillion times better than its predecessors, and if it isn't I hereby give you permission to throw me into a ditch and light me on fire. Hahahaha.

Well, until next time….

27

(Oh, but make sure you tune into my one-shots for the upcoming **Yullen Week,** the first of which will be submitted on the **18****th****.** I hope that's enough to keep you satisfied until the next installment of **Stray.**)


	6. V: an invasion of sorts

"**Stray"  
**--  
**Fandom: **-man  
**Chapter: **Five  
**Rating: **T  
**Pairing: **Kanda x Allen  
**Summary:  
**" Just because someone is cursed doesn't mean they are undeserving of love. Even if by loving them it means that you will die. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. YULLEN. "

**Author's Notes:**

…after Christmas, I said.  
…MOAR LIEK AFTER THE INAUGURATION, AMIRITE?

-cries in corner-

Well, it's up now, at long last, the fifth installment of **Stray.**It is a tad longer than the previous chapters, the only reason it isn't longer is because I really liked the ending and didn't want to change it. I'll be sure to make the next chapter muchies longer, I promise.  
(…didn't I say that already…?)

ANYWAY.

The usual warnings.

This is **AU. **Don't like, don't read.

This is also **shounen****-****ai****.** Again, don't read if you don't like.

And without (even) further delay, enjoy~

**XXXXX**

If there was one thing in life that Lavi never expected, it was too see Kanda's number displayed on his caller ID.

In fact, the redhead had stared at the flickering LCD screen for a good ten seconds, his single green eye wide and his mouth halfway open in the expression of complete astonishment, his brain attempting to acknowledge that, yes, _Kanda_ was calling him. He had never thought he would live to see the day, and in his complete utter surprise he almost forgot to actually _answer_the phone. When he did, however, he never got a chance to exclaim how proud he was of his Yu-chan to finally suck up his pride and actually _call_ his _best friend_, because the dark-haired man's icy voice had cut him off before he even had the words formed on his tongue.

"_Get your fucking bunny ass over here right now before I castrate you. Any questions?"_

Lavi blinked and tried again before being rudely cut off once more.

"_Good."_

And then Kanda hung up.

--

Muttering colorful curses and calling the redheaded genius every name under the moon, Kanda stalked back and forth across the carpeted floor of his apartment's living room. Glaring death at the clock perched on the wall, he dutifully counted the seconds and minutes that had passed since he had begrudgingly called Lavi and ordered him here. He let out an irritated growl and shot another death glare at the door, then turned his poisonous gaze to the couch, where the source of the whole problematic situation unconsciously lay, covered in a thin blanket Kanda had quickly grabbed from the linen cabinet he didn't even know he had. No way in hell he would waste his good bed sheets on the stupid, helpless, white-haired, irritating brat curled up on the sofa, who was finally breathing evenly now that Kanda had resentfully bandaged the worst of the boy's injuries. It was no professional job, Kanda knew, which was the reason he had called up that idiot rabbit, who knew far more about medication and treatments then he did.

And Kanda then took a moment to wonder _why_ he was doing all his for the stupid Cursed Boy he barely even knew.

But his thoughts were then distracted by a merry knocking on his door that immediately sent a new spike of annoyance through every vein in Kanda's body and he quickly staked over to the door and threw it open violently to reveal the grinning, crimson-headed man known as Lavi, who's single emerald eye was glittering with a hint of merriment that matched his jolly smile. Kanda wanted to strangle him already.

"A very merry evening to you, Yu-chan!" Lavi chimed, grinning even wider (if that was possible). "Shall I assume that you have graciously invited me into your humble abode?"

"You're going to assume that my foot is up your ass if you don't cram it, fucking rabbit.'

The redhead hummed and pushed his way past an irate Kanda and surveyed the apartment he had uninvitingly graced with his presence many times before. "As polite as ever, I see. Now, for what momentous reason have ya invited me over, Yu-chan? Did you perhaps miss my dashingly good looks? Couldn't go a week without seeing my angelic face? Couldn't sleep without hearing my melodic voice one more?"

"I am going to kill you AFTER you take a look at the fucking beansprout."

Lavi blinked a question and stared as Kanda stalked past him and haughtily stood beside the couch, causing the young man to shift his gaze from the fuming Japanese to the small, blanket-covered shape that was rhythmically rising and falling, as if is was breathing. Which it happened to be doing. Lavi started to get mildly freaked out.

"…Yu-chan, did you have a baby without me knowing?"

"Shut the fuck up and get over here, rabbit."

His curiosity finally got the better of him and Lavi complied, quickly trotting over to the sofa and tilting his head inquiringly in Kanda's direction. The dark-haired man merely scowled in response and Lavi had no choice but to discover what this mysterious creature was himself.

The creature, A.K.A. Allen Walker, gave an annoyed, unintelligible mutter when the blanket he had been sheltering under was removed, shifting slightly in his fitful sleep. Lavi merely stared at the small, white-haired boy dozing on the couch, covered in various cuts and bruises and various other injuries, the worst of them patched up botchily by Kanda. The glove and bandages that had previously been obscuring his left hand and eye had been removed, displaying the boy's deformities for all to see. A ragged, crimson scar marred the left side of his face, and his left hand and arm were savaged so badly with burns that the skin was reduced to a crinkly, uneven mess of dull red flesh. Not even the boy's fingernails had escaped damage – they were charcoal black in color and dead looking, as if they would snap off with the slightest of touches.

Lavi felt his heart clench slightly in sympathy for the poor kid; no wonder he tried so hard to keep these parts of him hidden – no one would be proud of having wounds like that. "…the Cursed Boy, Yu-chan? Seriously? Aren't you, oh, I dunno, getting in a bit over yer head here?"

"Shut the fuck up and make sure he doesn't bleed all over my carpet."

Lavi merely rolled his eyes and decided to examine the sleeping child. His grandfather, the head of the Bookman family, was a master of many healing remedies and procedures from various cultures of the world; while Lavi had studied under the man as his apprentice (he tried _not_to think of that period of time in his life), he had passed on many medical techniques down to the redheaded genius, in case he would ever find himself with the ability to get an actual doctor. Medical practices weren't on Lavi's list of favorite things to do (they reminded him too much of Bookman), he concluded that to save his life from the imitate danger that would come from refusing, he decided that now was the time to put his long dormant skills to action.

Kanda watched with narrowed eyes at Lavi worked at giving Allen at least semi-proper medical treatment, reluctantly fetching the redhead supplies when asked, making sure to throw whatever thing he had fetched directly into the stupid rabbit's face before muttering about how he wasn't a fucking dog and that the stupid bunny should fetch his stuff himself. But Kanda had brought this upon himself by calling Lavi over in the first place, so he (mostly) kept his mouth shut and let Lavi finish patching up the still sleeping boy.

"…wow, this kid's one helluva sleeper," Lavi commented, spreading disinfectant on one last cut up near Allen's shoulder blade. "You sure he ain't dead already, Yu-chan? Why didn't ya take him to see an actual doctor in the first place, anyhow? And happened to the kid anyway??"

Kanda snorted. "He's breathing, isn't he? Although I'm surprised he hasn't died from overexposure to your stupidity. I know I'm almost done for."

"Oh, wouldn't that be a service to the world." Lavi grinned jovially has he felt Kanda's glare of death pierce the back of his head, and after applying the last bandage to Allen's shoulder he straightened up and surveyed his work. The boy's wounds were not properly treated and wouldn't contract infection unless he was extremely unlucky, and he was sleeping even more calmly than before, snuggling into the inside of the couch as if nothing had happened. "Aw, he's just too cute, don't you agree, Yu-chan?"

"Cute in a disgusting kind of way, as all cute and disgusting things are. If you're finished, then get the fuck out."

Lavi raised his hands in mock-surrender and gave Kanda an inquisitive stare. "So, are ya gonna answer my earlier questions or not, Yu-chan?"

Kanda glared and rolled his eyes. "No fucking way I was going to pay for a doctor. And he got in some kind of fight."

Lavi gasped, half irritated at Kanda's selfishness and half surprised that someone this _cute_ managed to get into s _fight._ "A fight?! How could they! The fiends!"

"He's the Cursed Boy. People hate him."

Lavi couldn't help but agree with that, and the two of them stood in silence for a while, watching the unconscious boy sleep on the couch. Then Kanda aimed a kick at Lavi's ass and the redhead yelped. "The hell was that for, Yu-chan?!"

"OUT."

Lavi merely sighed in defeat and sauntered over to the door, humming all the way. "Always a pleasure to be of service…" Then the redhead trailed off, his hand already on the handle, staring at the door as if something had just gone off in bright neon lights in his head. Then he slowly turned his head back to Kanda, gaping and beaming at the same time. Kanda stared back. There was silence for a good five seconds before Lavi's mouth split into a grin that was way too wide for Kanda's liking. Something annoying was about to happen, he knew it.

"…you called the kid _cute._"

Kanda continued to stare, raising an eyebrow and snorting disdainfully at the redhead. "Che, since when did I say that?"

"Earlier, I asked you if thought he was cute, and you said 'cute in a disgusting kind of way' which means that you called him cute!"

"I didn't-!"

"Yu-chan thinks the beansprout is cute!"

Kanda was positively fuming now. "I most definitely do _not."_

"Ahh, but denial is just the first step, my friend!" the green-eyed teen sang, wrapped and arm around the Japanese and jabbing the taller man's chest with his index finger. "And now there's no way I can you alone with the kid you think is _cute."_

"I fucking told you, I do _not_ think beansprout is cute."

Lavi completely ignored Kanda and quickly danced away before the dark-haired man could knock his lights out for invading his personal space and instead began pacing in circles around the couch, muttering to himself. "Of course, of course, that would explain the petname and calling me and everything and ooh, it's going to be like _slumber party_, yay!"

Kanda twitched at the mention 'slumber party' and growled threateningly. "What are you on about, fucking rabbit? Who says I'm letting you stay one more second inside my house?"

"You already have and this is an apartment, not a house! 'Sides, if I left you alone with the kid you'd probably do something indecent to him and I won't be able to live that on my conscious (actually, I probably could, but that's beside the point) and so I have no choice but to stay!"

Kanda glared even more and attempted to forcefully shove Lavi out the door, who merely whipped around and clung to Kanda like a redheaded parasite, whining. This proved to be an unwise decision, because now all of Lavi's vital points were within reach of Kanda's fist.

There was a few more minutes filled with Kanda chasing a whooping Lavi around the apartment before the black-haired man finally gave up and slumped on the armchair beside the couch, sulking. Lavi emerged from the kitchen with a triumphant grin on his face and he sprawled on across the floor next to the couch, his green eye shining with amusement in Kanda's direction.

"…you're sleeping on the floor."

"Deal."

--

The next morning arrived with Kanda already being awake, much to Lavi's displeasure. The redhead had awoken from his spot on the armchair to see the light on in Kanda's room and silently cursed his luck – he was hoping for this is be the perfect chance to snoop around Kanda's apartment. But if the Japanese was already awake then he would most certainly hear Lavi stalking around and the teen was enough of a genius to know that being caught snooping by Kanda would result in a great amount of pain.

As he stretched and yawned the dark-haired man strutted from his bedroom, glared at Lavi, and then disappeared into the kitchen. Lavi's lips twitched upwards into a grin and he reclined back on the armchair, glancing sideways at the couch as he did so. Allen was still sleeping peacefully, and the redhead couldn't help but feel attached to the boy already. He was just too _cute!_Lavi patted the white head affectionately before getting up and calling, "Oy, Yu-chan, I want some breakfast!"

"Get it your own damn self."

'But I'm a guest!" Lavi whined, "You should be serving _me!"_

"Great idea. We'll be having Rabbit Stew for breakfast today." There was silence for a moment in which Lavi sulked before Kanda added, "Wait, nevermind, it would give me a stomachache. We can feed it to the brat though."

Lavi sulked some more and made a move towards the kitchen before stopping, due to the fact that something now had a rather strong grip on his sleeve. He looked down and saw two silvery pools of gray staring back at him, and Allen Walker's face split into an angelic smile as he said, "Did you say breakfast?"

And Lavi could only stare at the boy for a few moments before laughing his head off.

**XXXXX**

/end

Hope you all enjoyed the Lavi-ness! I always enjoy writing him, he's an amazing character c:

Anyway, when will you see the next update of **Stray?  
**…  
Well, seeing as my previous predictions have never been accurate, let's just say **February **c,:

Well, till next tiem (whenever that may be),

**-27**

**XXXXX**

_Somewhere, far in the inner regions of a German forest, three ghosts haunted the trees and flew through the night, chatting furiously at each other as they went about their ghost-like duties and being generally annoying._

"…_brother, I really wish you would stop scaring people away from here. It gets very lonely with just the two of you here…"_

"_But dearest __Lenalee__, some stranger could come and snatch you away! My poor heart wouldn't be able to take it!"_

"_I think you would somehow manage to survive, __Komui__."_

"_No one asked you!"_

"_Please, you two, don't fight again…"_

_And so the night wore on._


	7. VI: kanda and allen and lavi

"**S****tray"****  
**--  
**F****andom: **-man  
**C****hapter: **Six  
**R****ating: **T  
**P****airing: **Kanda x Allen  
**S****ummary:  
**" Just because someone is cursed doesn't mean they are undeserving of love. Even if by loving them it means that you will die. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. YULLEN. "

**A****uthor's Notes:**

ASDFGH  
TWO TUESDAYS AGO LOL WAS ZEEKEH'S BITHRDAYYY.

Andandand she asked for me to update this on her birthday, which was impossible due to my *COUGHprocrastinatingCOUGH* unforseen circumstances that cold not have been avoided.

SO.

This is now less of a birthday chapter rather than a **Happy Valentine's Day** chapter to you, in order to make up for the wait I made you sit through c,:

I HOPE YOU LIKE IT.  
I THINK IT FAILS.  
BUT  
MAYBE YOU WON'T.  
MAYBE.

-emos-

So yes. GO WISH HER A HAPPY _EXTREMELY BELATED _FOURTEENTH BIRTHDAY NOW AADWIEGTNW.  
/~Zeekeh

And naow, the usual warningss.

This fic takes place in an **alternate universe**. Don't like AU, don't read.  
This is also **shounen-ai/yaoi.** Again, don't read if you don't like.

So, enjoy; especially you, little miss still-one-year-my-junior-lololol. I give you hugs.

**XXXXX**

"THAT THING ATE OUT MY ENTIRE FUCKING FRIDGE."

"I'm sorry, but I was really hungry and it's not like you said that I _couldn't_-"

"I NEVER SAID YOU COULD, EITHER."

Allen shrunk back slightly and scampered to hide behind Lavi's tall frame, leaving the redhead to take the worst of Kanda's murderous glares. The redhead, highly amused, gave the scrawny boy a pat on the head before saying, "Yu-chan, lower the volume, you're scaring the poor kid."

Kanda glared poisonously at the one-eyed man, gritting his teeth with irritation at the forlorn state of his kitchen. He has disappeared into his bedroom for, at most, two minutes – during which the white-haired boy had somehow managed to find and devour most of the edible food the dark-haired teen had in his apartment.

"Food costs _money_, rabbit. That thing must have cost me a fortune and a half just now."

Lavi rolled his eyes and retorted, "Since when have _you_ of all people been worried about money? An' he ain't a thing, he's an adorable little boy! You're so coldhearted, Yu-chan!"

"….your point? I kept _telling_ the brat to eat his fucking soup. Now look what he's done."

The redhead pouted, turning back to the frightened and slightly embarrassed boy hiding behind him and patted his shoulders reassuringly, grinning. "Naw, don't let ol' grumpypants over there scare ya, beanspout, he's a real softie inside, trust me."

Allen peered beyond Lavi's lanky frame and severely doubted that last statement – but if the last week had taught him anything, it was that the threat-happy teen never seemed to carry _out_ those threats. Well, towards Allen, at least. The boy glanced upward at his protector and tilted his head to the side. "….who are you, anyway?"

Lavi sighed once more and gave the white-haired child a friendly pat shoulder before smashing Kanda's head with a small frying pan he found hanging tantalizingly from the wall.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?"

And now it was Allen's turn to protect Lavi from the death-delivering hands of the Japanese aimed at the redhead's throat with full intent to throttle, the green-eyed boy laughing merrily all the way.

--

And so the morning wore on.

Kanda, after maiming Lavi to the best of his ability, had half-stumbled over towards the bathroom, clutching his head with a snarl on his lips as he slammed the door behind him. The redhead had managed to escape with only a few extremely unsightly bruises to his face, both his cheeks a dull purplish-blue in color and his right eyelid drooping over his rapidly blackening right eye. But he didn't seem to mind – Allen eyed him with a wary look from the armchair, the older teen lounging on the couch across from him, looking like he'd just won a million dollars, his single emerald eye sparkling with glee and his lips turned upward in his apparent, usual grin.

"Uhm, are you sure you're-"

"Hahaha, I'm fine, I'm fine, don't ya fret~."

Falling silent once more at Lavi's reassurance, Allen continued to stare at the redhead while the other casually stared back. "Whatcha lookin' at, beansprout? 'Sides my wonderful features, o' course."

Allen blushed lightly at the last statement before huffing slightly and saying, "Just who _are_ you…?"

Lavi grinned even more (if that was possible) and lazily extended his left hand in Allen's direction. "Name's Lavi Bookman! My Gramps is big in the political business, used to own a library in town 'fore he got up and started travelin' with his government buddies. I own the place now, 'course, now that I'm an adult." Lavi appeared especially proud at that fact, puffing out his chest and smirking. "S'got the best collection of books in the country, it does. Ya ever been there, beansprout?"

"N-no. Not really." Allen warily eyed the redhead's hand and gingerly extended his own. "Uhm. Nice to meet you. And my name is Allen Walker, not…beansprout." Allen flinched slightly as he hand was clasped and shaken strongly by the man across from him, who was laughing all the way.

"Allen Walker, eh? Beansprout suits you better, I say."

"…shut up."

Then sat in stony silence for a few moments, Allen only slightly sulking and Lavi humming an incoherent tune to the sound of never-ending swear words coming from the bathroom. Lavi learned a lot of Japanese insults that morning.

"…so, what's yer connection to Mr. Grumpypants, beansprout?"

"Eeh?" Unprepared for the sudden question, Allen could only stare dumbly at Lavi, blinking owlishly and tilting his head. "Why the sudden curiosity?"

Lavi's single eye twinkled merrily at him as the redhead leaned forward to rest his elbows on the coffee table, lips twitching upward into an almost feral grin before replying, "Well, ya two seem quite close – and I ain't never seen Yu-chan get _close_ to _anything_ before, unless said thing was about to meet an untimely death."

Allen opened and closed his mouth in shock for a few moments before spluttering, "C-close? We've talked for about thirty minutes a day for the past week! That's not…close! That's not even friendship, or anything!"

"Uh-huh. I can't even take a nibble at a single crumb in his highness's kitchen wit'out his permission and not getting my ass kicked into the next dimension."

"W-well, I'm hurt! Of course, so are you, now, but I don't think he's the type of person to go through the effort of dragging a useless thing somewhere and then, well, damage it further! That's all!"

Lavi raised an eyebrow. "Sprout, he's not the type to drag a useless thing _anywhere_ in the first place. Buuuut he did fer you! How d'ya do it? Secret powers of seduction you got hidden up yer sleeve or sumthin'? Cus I'll tell ya this," he added, seeing Allen's face light up a bright red and not being able to resist messing with the kid more, "He ain't _ever_ been nice to anyone, cept _you._"

Dumbfounded, the white-haired orphan could only stare at Lavi once more, sporting a vibrant blush, before finding the words to protest the redhead's statements. "…I think 'nice' may be stretching the truth a bit, Lavi…"

"True enough, true enough, but hey, y'know, from what I can tell, he usually hates guys like you, y'know? Cute and needy and fragile and whatnot. But seeing as ya ain't been kicked into next week yet, I'll hafta say, he must really like ya, beansprout."

And then a hefty bottle of shampoo came flying across the room and hit Lavi square in the face, knocking him backwards over the couch with a dramtic _thunk._ Allen blinked and slowly turned around to see a glaring Kanda strutting over, ponytail swishing back and forth with every stride he took towards the two boys that were just talking about him. Stopping next to the armchair Allen was cowering in, staring at the Japanese with mock-fright, he abruptly snapped his gaze downwards to meet with the silvery orbs looking up at him.

"WHAT."

Allen took this as cue to immediately avert his gaze away from the dark-haired man, the poisonous glare sending shivers of fear down his spine – and some shivers that weren't necessarily caused by fright, as well. "L-lavi, are you-?"

"Yu-chan~! You've killed me! Boo!" The redhead emerged, rubbing his head, appearing relatively unharmed aside from a rather pained expression painted on his face.

"Mission accomplished."

"…meanie."

"Idiot fucking retarded rabbit."

"No fair, Yu-chan, you're dirtying poor Allen's virgin ears!"

"Uhm, Lavi, could you leave my ears out of this…?"

"WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT EARS HERE!" Lavi slammed his fist down on the glass coffee table, causing it to rattle forebodingly. Allen flinched backwards and Kanda looked like he was about to murder Lavi for damaging his furniture. "WE'RE TALKING ABOUT POOR ALLEN'S INNOCENT SOUL AND THE EVIL, FOULMOUTHED BROODY PRINCESS YU AND HIS MANIAC PLOT TO SNATCH IT AWAY FROM HIM—"

Obviously Kanda did not take kindly to being called princess, as his foot was now planted on Lavi's face, radiating an aura of certain death.

"Question my masculinity again and I _will_ castrate you."

"Waaaaah, Yu-chan, leave my manly parts alone, I'll be good, I'll be good!" whined the redhead, gazing pitifully up at Kanda's furious expression, trying and failing to win the Japanese over with his expert display of Bambi eyes.

"Che." Kanda removed his foot before slowly turning on his heel to stalk over to Allen, who shrank back in the armchair as the older teen cast his ominous shadow over him. Dark blue eyes met metallic gray ones. Silence reigned.

Then Allen squeaked as strong arms abruptly lifted him up over Kanda's shoulder, and he could only yelp in protest as he was carried in the direction of the man's bedroom, protests that seemed to fall on deaf ears. Allen felt rather pathetic, being carried like some damsel in distress by the dark-haired man, but seeing as –

Wait.

Bedroom.

_Bed_room.

The realization of exactly _where_ Kanda was carrying him slowly settled in Allen's brain and made it's nest there, causing the white-haired boy to blanch and protest with renewed vigor, recalling Lavi's earlier statement about Kanda and his 'maniac plot.' Lavi had been joking…right? Allen gulped and attempted to persuade himself that this was true, vehemently beating down that small part of his teenage brain that was sending completely him completely different and _completely _unwanted signals.

Then he felt soft material hit his back and strong hands push his shoulders down and whimpered as Kanda stared down at him from his dominant position above Allen, emotionless eyes boring down on him, pinning him there to the comfortable material of Kanda's bed.

"You. Sleep. The sooner you get better, the sooner you can get the hell out of my apartment."

"U-uh…"

And then he walked out, long hair gracefully swaying behind him as he slammed the door shut, leaving Allen alone in Kanda's bed in the settling darkness of Kanda's room. The white-haired teen listened to the sound of the two older teens shouting at each other, the door proving to be a rather effective sound barrier (Kanda probably intended it to be that way, knowing him) and not allowing Allen to distinguish what the two were saying. Fighting down the last of his now fading blush, the young boy merely stared at the wall for a few moments before shrugging and sliding back down onto the bed, snuggling beneath the extremely comfortable covers and letting out a small sigh of confusion.

_What do I do, Mana? I don't know what to do. _

_I don't know what to do anymore…_

And that day, Allen's dreams were filled with vicious tongues of fire and the face of a certain grouchy, Japanese teen.

--

His eyes flickered open to the sound of birds softly chirping morning tunes outside of Kanda's window, to soft shafts of light slicing through the slits in the curtains. _I slept…for the whole day?_ But Allen's sleep-drugged mind was still too tired to take the situation with any seriousness or alarm, so his next course of action was to, of course, snuggle his pillow and let himself get lost in the sound of the singing birds and the gentle beating of his own heart.

That's when he heard the soft sound of breathing coming from the foot of his bed.

Finally able to kick his mind in gear, Allen slowly lifted his head and blinked in surprise when he spotted that distinctive long hair and pale face of Kanda, who happened to be sitting lightly at the foot of the bed, staring at the covered window with narrowed eyes and an expression the white haired boy couldn't decipher. As he watched, the black-haired man let out an irritated sigh and muttered, "Those fucking birds should fucking shut the fuck up."

"…I think it's nice."

Allen couldn't help but grin at Kanda's reaction – the Japanese stiffened with shock and whipped his head around to stare at the now-awake boy, who could only stare and smile sheepishly in response. The startled expression, to Allen, was priceless.

"…since when the fuck were you awake?!"

"Since when did you say 'fuck' three times a sentence?"

"Ever since I learned the word, moron."

"Not around me you didn't. Until just now."

"Because I thought you were fucking asleep!"

"…so you admit you don't swear a lot in front of me?"

"I never said that, beansprout."

Allen, truth be told, was rather touched that Kanda had, however subtlety, made some kind of attempt to be relatively kind to him – although he knew the Japanese would never, _ever_ admit it, it was a nice thought, at least.

"'Ey, what's all this yelling so early in the mornin'?" From the voice Allen heard, the sound of the door slamming open, and the way Kanda's dace distorted into a disgusted scowl, the white-haired boy deduced that Lavi had entered the vicinity. He shifted slightly to look behind him and confirmed his earlier guess, seeing that glittering emerald eye and messy crimson-orange hair and feral grin that pretty much shouted the redhead name in bright, neon letters.

"Good morning, Lavi," Allen chimed, smiling brightly in the other's direction. Despite not knowing him for more than a day, the white-haired boy felt himself to be quite at ease when talking to the red-headed teen, much like he did when talking to Kanda. But not quite the same. Not at all.

"Mornin', Allen! Sleep well, beansprout? And what's the ol' sourpuss doin' in here? Couldn't let ya sleep alone?" A mischievous smirk replaced his jovial grin and Allen felt a light blush appear on his cheeks as he hotly denied this fact. However, it was Kanda that seemed most adamant in his denial.

"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL HERE."

"An' a good mornin' to you too, sunshine," came the sarcastic reply, and Allen felt himself get yoinked from the bedsheets and pulled out of the bedroom by Lavi, who shouted, "I told ya yesterday, I can't leave ya alone with the precious beansprout! God knows what ya'd to t'him!"

"L-lavi, I'm supposed to be resting-"

"NONSENSE!" Allen eeped as he was hit in the face with a shirt, followed shortly by a pair of pants and other such clothing items. Blinking stupidly from beneath the garments he now held, he merely stared at Lavi, who was standing in the living room with his hands on his hips, looking quite triumphant. "There's a change of clothes for ya, sprout! Go change speedy-like, kay?"

Allen could only blink some more at the redhead standing before him. Kanda, radiating death towards the one-eyed teen, stalked forward from the bedroom with a snarl. "What the hell are you on about now, stupid rabbit?"

"In my _professional_ opinion, beansprout ain't gonna get any better unless he gets some fresh air, yeah? So we're gonna take him out!"

" …_we're?"_

"Yes, _we're_, because however much your surly presence may dampen the mood, little Allenkins would be a mess without his knight in shining armor there wit him! Yer the one who said ya wanted him outta yer apartment as soon as possible, and here we are! Getting him out…temporarily, tha' is."

"…stop twisting my words to meet your out needs. You're making no sense."

"IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE!"

Allen noticed that Lavi had a tendency to raise his voice a lot, which seemed hazardous to the redhead's health, if the murderous look on Kanda's face was anything to go by. At the moment, though, there were other matters the white-haired boy needed to address. "No, Lavi, it's ok, I understand, of course he wants me out. I _need_ to get out." Blood-laden memories lined themselves up at the edge of Allen's mind as he said this, but he bitterly pushed them away – he couldn't deal with them at the moment. Not now.

Lavi cocked his head, eying Allen questioningly. "Well, course yer stayin'. Ya need somewhere t'go. From what Yu-chan here has told me, you've been livin' out in the streets, yeah? Don't ya _want_ free room and board?"

Allen stared at Lavi, dumbfounded. "D-don't you know? Who I am, what I am, what _happens_ to people when they…take care of me…" He trailed off once more, mentally fighting to keep the bad memories at bay.

Lavi tilted his head to the other side and grinned. "Oh? That? Yeah, we know about that. Anyway, I hope those clothes ain't too big or nuthin', I had to run out late last night to get 'em an' the only shop tha' was open was this shady place on the corner so I don' know whether they're actually the size they say they are-"

The cursed Boy gaped at Lavi, annoyed now. "Don't change the subject, you completely ignored the fact that if you guys take care of me you're going to-!"

"Shut up, beansprout." Allen turned his head sharply to see Kanda glaring at him from where he leaned against the kitchen counter, annoyance evident on his features. "You voice is getting on my nerves."

"But-"

"Quiet."

Allen was about to protest anew when Lavi's hand abruptly covered his mouth. "S'alright. Trust us, yeah? We know what we're doing."

Allen stared up at Lavi, at that carefree face that seemed so _serious_ when he said that – and then Kanda, who was glaring at him and glaring at him some more, but with an expression of stubborn determination that meant he supported Lavi's words – and that, somehow, made Allen happy. Uncontrollably, deliriously happy.

And Allen smiled.

"Now, where were we," Lavi hummed, shoving Allen towards Kanda's bedroom again. "I do believe you were off to get changed so we could go out! It'll be like a date, only without the romantic shit and all tha'."

"Mention my name and 'date' in the same phrase again and your head is finding a new home, stupid rabbit."

"Ah, but I said 'we' not 'you'…haha, Yu, geddit? I didn't say Yu!"

"...your jokes are getting stupider every day. If that's even possible."

"Ha ha ha. Always the sweetest little ray of sunshine, aren't ya?"

And as he listened to the two argue and shout death threats at each other, Allen was struck by a strange sense of foreboding.

But that didn't stop him from leaning against the bedroom wall and cry, crying and crying and laughing from his own uncontrollable happiness.

**XXXXX**

AUGH.

I SWEAR.  
I HAD  
SO MANY DAMN WRITER'S BLOCKS WHILE WRITING THIS THING.  
A-and I…don't think it turned out so great.

-cries softly in corner-

A-anyway.  
Please visit my profile and vote in the poll I've put up. If you want to, that is c,: I'd really like an answer to that question as soon as possbile~

Happy Valentine's, hope everyone got sum good lovin' and sum good candy c:

Much luv & chocolate,  
**-27**


	8. VII: happy

"**S****tray"****  
**--  
**F****andom: **-man  
**C****hapter: **Seven  
**R****ating: **T  
**P****airing: **Kanda x Allen

**A****/N:  
**AHAHAHAHA.  
THIS TOOK LONG ENOUGH.  
-bricked-

ANYWAY.

**Shinigami Hunter** and I made a deal with each other that we would both update our stories today, on the 22nd. God knows I barely made it, I'm sorry, I was NOT counting on my mom forbidding be from using the computer for half the day ____;;

BUT, UH. ANYWAY.

Go check out her fic, **Experimental, Irreplaceable**, because it's made of more win than you'll ever be.

SO YEAH.

I apologize for the short and crappy chapter, I had to rush this chapter a lot. I'll defiantly make the next one better AND ACTUALLY HAVE SOME PLOT IN IT LOLOLOLOL –bricked-

Uhm. Standard warnings/disclaimer's apply, if you're reading this chapter you'll know them all by now, I hope 8D

WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY.

Enjoy~

**

* * *

**

"…"

"…Lavi, may I ask you where we're going?"

The only reply Allen received was a slightly feral look flashed his way from the redhead who was merrily skipping ahead of him. The white-haired boy sighed, pushing his gloved hands deeper into the pockets of the heavy coat Lavi has lent him. "…Kanda, do you know where we're going?"

Said Asian was currently trudging along directly behind Allen, seething with so much rage that the younger teen could almost feel is radiating off the older. "Che. Like hell if I ever know what the stupid rabbit is up to next."

And then there was silence. The rough cobblestone sidewalk buckled suddenly as Allen walked along it and he tripped, yelping as he barely managed to keep his face free of intimate contact with the stony ground. An irritated growl behind him urged him to regain his balance and he hurried ahead, an oblivious Lavi still hopping away in front of them both.

"Moron. Can't you walk ten feet without tripping over your own feet? Clumsy idiot."

Allen whirled around and scowled, his sudden stop nearly causing Kanda to crash into him. "That was the _first_ time I've tripped this entire time!" he huffed, indignant, staring right up into the tall man's angry face. "Can't _you_ go a few seconds without insulting me?"

Kanda twitched. The little beansprout thought he could _argue_ with him? "Don't tell me what to do, you little stray. Watch your mouth."

Allen blinked. "….stray."

"Yes. Stray. Like a lost dog, except stupider."

"Don't call me stupid-!!"

"Hey, sorry to butt into your lover's quarrel, but we're, uh, here." Both arguing boys whipped their heads around to glare at the redhead, who was grinning at them from a little ways ahead, thumbing to something just down the road, out of Kanda and Allen's field of vision. Curiosity overwhelming his anger at Kanda, the white-haired teen scampered forward to where Lavi was standing, a soft sound reaching his ears that slowly became louder until he stood at Lavi's side, staring down the road with utter amazement obvious in his face.

"…this…this is…"

For a second, Allen wasn't standing next to Lavi – his mind transported him back to a small, throwaway conversation, four days ago;

"_Kanda, Kanda!" _

"_What."_

"_I was checking the city notice board today, Kanda, and there was a poster there!"_

"_That's what the notice board is for, idiot bean sprout."_

"_Yes, Kanda, I know that, but this was a poster advertising a circus!" _

"_And why should I care about circuses? They're smelly, noisy and annoying."_

"_Because they're fun! They're full of animals and acrobats and magic and wonder and lots and lots of other really cool stuff! Well, at least…that's what I've heard…"_

"…what?" Kanda had caught up to them and was now standing behind Allen once more, clicking his tongue at the utterly bemused expression on Allen's face. "Did your brain cease to function? No, wait, that would require you to have a brain in the first place…"

"…you remembered."

Kanda snorted as Allen slowly turned around to face him, the younger boy practically trembling with whatever emotion that was running through his veins. "So what?"

"…you _remembered!"_

"O' course he did, sprout!" Lavi chimed, jovially nudging Allen in the shoulder, his grin widening even more (if that was possible). "This was his idea, after all. Cus, y'know, he said you said you'd never been to a circus before and god, you _can't _go through your life without seeing a circus - although this is actually a carnival, silly, you musta read the flyer wrong…'ey, 'Sprout, he's going to chop you in half if you do tha'!"

But Allen wasn't listening, as he had already flung himself at the totally unprepared Kanda, throwing his arms around the older teen's neck laughing like a neglected child who'd been given a new toy. Kanda, caught off guard, looked as if he was ready to commit murder, but managed to suck up his pride long enough to begrudgingly wrap his own arms around Allen's small frame, supporting the scrawny boy so that he didn't fall to the ground. "What the hell, beansprout?! Get off of me!"

And Lavi laughed as well, snickering at the utterly _adorable_ sight in front of him, making sure to lock this scene away in his head for future blackmail material. The sounds from the carnival drifted up towards them, adding the perfect background music to the scene. "Yes, yes, but how about we drop the romantics for now and go have some _fun, _yeah?"

Allen, who was still giggling like a fool and clinging to Kanda, couldn't agree more.

--

And, well, it _was_ fun.

Kanda had never done anything like this before. His whole life had been all about grades, training, anger, more anger, irritation, and more anger. Not once could he a recall a time where he had actually (loathe he to admit it) _enjoyed_ himself. Allen had devoured so much food Kanda had begun to wonder where all the fucking _fat_ went, since the white-haired boy was still skinny as a stick; Lavi had, somehow, managed to get himself drunk halfway through and the Japanese was forced to tow him along the rest of the time; at the younger's pleading, Kanda tried his hand at the cork-gun gallery, in which he (by pretending the stuffed animal was Lavi's head) managed to win Allen a giant stuffed yellow lab, which pleased the white-haired boy to no end – in fact, the dog (which Allen decided to call Timcampy, for whatever reason) seemed to be what Allen enjoyed the most about the trip, even though Lavi had earlier won a teddy roughly the same size from a ring toss that the younger had also been given.

Was it because the dog had been given to him by Kanda?

The three of them not sat at one of the many picnic tables scattered about carnival, Lavi dozing on Allen's shoulder while the white-haired boy stared off into the distance, a content expression on his face as Kanda watched him from the opposite side of the table. Next to Kanda were the two stuffed animals, which brought Kanda's mind back to pondering his earlier question.

But why was he even thinking about that in the first place?

Kanda snorted. He shouldn't be, that's what.

But every time he saw Allen's innocent, smiling face, those thoughts of his came flooding back.

And Kanda hated it. He hated the fact that this boy made him feel so…so happy, even while they were doing something Kanda would otherwise find no enjoyment taking part in. Like the carnival that Kanda had enjoyed, all because Allen just seemed so _happy…_

And he hated the fact that seeing Allen happy made _him_ happy.

Because Kanda knew he could never make Allen this happy in return.

**

* * *

**

D'AW KANDA YER SO SWEET, FRETTING OVER YER BEANSPROUT LIKE THAT. 8D –bricked-

So, yeah. Apologizes for the lame, short, unsatisfying chapter. I swear I shall make the next one fiftybajillion times better.

I may rewrite this later and elaborate more on their carnival outing.

Or maybe make it a separate fic.

Any preferences, guys?

SO YEAH! Until next tiem,

**-27**


	9. VIII: but not for long

"**S****tray"****  
**--  
**F****andom: **-man

**C****hapter: **Eight  
**R****ating: **T  
**P****airing: **Kanda x Allen

**A****/N:**

WHAT'S THIS??

A CHAPTER THAT ACTUALLY CONTAINS _PLOT??_  
-le ghasp-

So, yep!  
This chapter can actually has some plot development? Why yes, yes it can has.

On a competently different note, I'm co-updating with **Shinigami Hunter** again, although due to some, uh, complications (haha, vacations = no time to type /fails), I had to extend out deadline a bit…gomen, gomen, I swear I won't do it again. .____.;;

So!

The actual **shounen-ai** starts to kick in, too, yay for actually making this story fit into its genre! Cheers! :D  
This chapter also includes some Tyki! Rejoice for the arrival of the pedo! 8D /bricked

So, uh. YEAH.

Another note,** make sure you read the footnotes I have at the very bottom of this chapter (indicated in the story by little *'s), they're important!**

SO.  
SHALL WE BEGIN~?

**XXXXXX**

The next thing Kanda knew, he was being shaken awake by a carnival employee, who seemed adamant in the fact that he didn't care how drunk Kanda was, but that it was getting late and the faire was closing and that he would have to resort to force if Kanda didn't get moving soon.

After kicking his sleep-clouded brain back into gear and the kicking said employee into next week, the Asian slowly lifted himself up from the picnic table he had somehow fallen asleep on and muttered a few colorful phrases that caused the nearby mother and daughter to speed up in their exiting of the fairground. _How in the _fuck_ did I manage to fall asleep in the middle of this?? _"Oi, beansprout, why didn't you-"

It then took the older teen a few seconds to realize that he was talking to a sleeping and most-likely hung-over Lavi and two inanimate stuffed animals, for Allen was no where in sight.

A few more muttered curses later and Kanda was up on his feet, striding purposefully forward and only just remembering to grab his jacket from the opposite bench (he had given it to Allen earlier, who had been shivering ever so slightly, trying not be noticed; Kanda had tossed it over to him saying that 'If you get a cold, the stupid rabbit won't shut up about it for a week, and I'd prefer not to have homicide on my permanent record.'). Leaving Lavi to watch over Timcampy and Yoshi*, he set out to find the missing-in-action Allen.

Thankfully, given that the carnival was shutting down for the night and the crowd had all but disappeared, it didn't take long before Kanda had managed to spot that familiar head of white hair that was hovering just in front of a clothing boutique. _...what the hell does he think he's doing, running off all alone like that and not telling me--wait, why should I care whether he tells me in the first place, it's not like I would care if he got hurt or lost or whatever--which he better _not_ have or I am going to kick his ass--_

"T-thank you very much, I'm sorry I had to keep you open so late, Mr. Mikk, I just had to get this for him, I owe him so much!"

"It's not a problem," purred the silky smooth voice of the boutique owner, who appeared to be a handsome Portuguese man in his early twenties, who was handing a dark-colored clothing item over the counter to Allen, who was grinning as if he'd won the lottery. "I would do anything in my power to help out a little cutie such as yourself. Maybe we could get together sometime and have a little chat over coffee, what do you say?"

"…what." Allen jumped at the sudden pressure of Kanda's hand gripping his shoulder, looking back over his shoulder to see the older teen glaring daggers at the dark-skinned shopkeeper, who merely smirked and narrowed his golden eyes in return. "You go off by yourself and I find you alone and bargaining with this…thing?" The last word was accompanied by yet another poisonous glare sent the Portuguese man's way, whose expression didn't change, although his knuckles seemed to clench from where they lay on the counter.

Allen shot a glare of his own at the Asian man behind him. "Can't you be, oh, I dunno, even a little bit respectful? You haven't even _met_ the guy and you're already accusing him of being a…thing?" he huffed, turning on his heel and stalking away with his purchase tucked snuggly beneath his shoulder. "I really can't believe you sometimes, Kanda. Thanks again, Mr. Mikk, good luck in Manchester*!"

Mikk waved and smiled at Allen's retreating back before giving Kanda a sharp jab in the side with his elbow. "Well? Off you go, your bride appears quite angry with you – such a shame. Keep treating him like that and maybe I'll have a shot with him, what do you think—"

Kanda gave the rather annoying shopkeep a return jab before jogging to catch up with the Cursed Boy, who had fled to a rather desolate part of the fairground, leaning against the side of an abandoned stall with his arms crossed across his chest, obviously irritated. Kanda approached him quickly, leaning back beside him, causing the white-haired teen to glare at him once more and scoot sideways slightly. The long-haired man 'tch'-ed and looked away, causing a rather awkward silence to stretch between them for a good while before it was broken by Allen.

"Here."

Startled, Kanda barely reacted in time to catch the item of clothing Allen tossed at his head, coughing as the cloth caught in his mouth. Unraveling it, he discovered that Allen had bought…

"It's a scarf." The younger's scowl seemed to twitch slightly, as if he'd tried and failed to hide a smile. "You…let me use your coat, so I thought you might be cold.

Kanda stared at it.

"And, well, you've…been really kind to me the past week. Really." Again, Allen's mouth twitched in that shadow of a smile. "I've seen your attitude and I don't think you're one to be nice, so I thought I should thank you, y'know, for not treating me like I'm some piece of garbage. Like you do to pretty much everyone else, would it kill you to be just a little bit nicer…?" Allen's cheeks were flushed, ever so slightly, now appearing slightly embarrassed that he had blurted out his feelings of gratitude so suddenly.

Kanda stared at the scarf some more.

"And look, isn't it a pretty shade of blue?" Now appearing more excited than embarrassed, Allen turned sideways so that he could better point out the details of the wonderful scarf he had bought just for Kanda. "It's 100% cashmere*, too, so it's really soft, and it'll be really warm, too, and aren't the little designs adorable?"

"…it's got _kittens _on it."

"And puppies, too!"

Kanda stared at the scarf even more.

"See, look, the little kitties are black and the puppies look like Timcampy! And the puppies even have little green scarves on!*" At this point Allen emitted the most feminine squeal Kanda had ever heard a boy make, and he'd heard lots of boys squeal (due to his habit of suddenly appearing behind people with a homicidal aura and a heavy shinai*).

"…and what makes you think I'll actually _wear_ this?"

"…because your conscience won't let you reject a gift of gratitude from a little boy who'll cry all day and night and beg Lavi to set you straight if you don't?" The younger batted his eyelashes endearingly at Kanda, which most defiantly did not match the evil gleam the Asian man thought he saw flicker briefly in those teary eyes.

…_conniving brat._

"And, hey, it's better than if I'd gone along with my original plan and made you one myself," Allen sighed, leaning forward and stretching his hands up over his head. "I learned the hard way that I have, uh, _no_ ability to sew. At all." He still hand the Band-Aids on his fingers to prove it.

Kanda continued to stare at the scarf draped across his arms, eyes twitching every time he saw those knitted animals…but he could get used to it, right? After all, Allen _had_ gone out of his way to get Kanda this scarf, spending his own money to--

Kanda stiffened.

Allen was_ homeless_.

A homeless idiot who had been forced to get his food from a soup kitchen for the past god knows how many weeks of his life.

A _penniless, _homeless idiot.

"…beansprout."

Allen glanced back apprehensively – that tone of voice could _not _mean anything good. "…er. Yes..?"

"How did you pay for this?"

Allen tensed ever so slightly at Kanda's question and looked away, almost guiltily. "Well, y'know, I paid for it. Isn't that how to usually buy things these days?"

Kanda growled and Allen yelped as he was slammed back violently against the wall of the empty stall, the older's eyes boring imaginary holes in the white-haired boy's head. Just a quick glance at Kanda's face told Allen that the Asian man was furious – in fact, Allen couldn't remember a time when he'd seen Kanda this mad, surprisingly.

"Don't _lie_ to me, bean!" Kanda's sharp hiss made Allen whimper ever so slightly as his shoulders were pressed harder against the wood. "_How did you pay for it?"_

The flush from earlier readily returned as Allen stammered his answer. "W-well, I didn't have any money, and no one in their right mind would give someone something as expensive as a good-quality cashmere scarf for free, so I asked him if there was any other way I could pay for it…"

"_And?"_ The question seemed to literally stab Allen in the chest and he gulped.

"He said that a k-kiss would suffice--Kanda, let go, you're hurting me!" At the word 'kiss' Allen could feel the rough wood slice through the material of his shirt, rubbing against his shoulder blades as Kanda pushed him back even farther with a low growl. "It was just a kiss, Kanda, why are you getting so mad?! It's not like you care or anything, so just…let go!"

And Allen was surprised to find that, at his pleading, Kanda really _did_ let go – at least a bit. The white-haired teen relished in the return of his freedom and stared warily at Kanda, who still had one firm hand on his shoulder and the other one pressed against his forehead in exasperation. "…you are an _idiot."_

"W-what--I am _not!" _Allen retorted hotly, his irritation from earlier returning fast. "I went and got you this awesome scarf and _that's_ all you can say--"

"_Idiot._" Allen twitched as Kanda growled and rested his head on Allen's shoulder, the physical contact making Allen blush ever so slightly. "You could have just…_made_ me one. It's not like I would have…thought it was stupid or anything and why am I telling you this, idiot beansprout??"

"How am I supposed to know?? You're the one who started going off in the first place--"

And then Allen found that he was now lacking in the ability to speak, due to the fact that Kanda had lifted his head and proceeded to catch Allen's lips with his own, leading to a kiss that seemed way too gentle for someone as violent as Kanda. Allen's eyes widened in stunned disbelief and he blinked owlishly as Kanda pulled away, as straight-faced as ever with an unidentifiable emotion swirling around behind his dark eyes.

"I would have liked it better if you'd just _made_ me one, idiot beansprout," muttered the older, crossing his arms and sending Allen a look he couldn't decipher. Still too stunned to reply, the white-haired teen could only blink some more and attempt to fight back the dark blush appearing on his cheeks as Kanda gently – _gently, _Allen still couldn't believe it – wrapped the scarf around his neck, never once taking his eyes off Allen. "But since you went through all the trouble, at stupid as you may have been, I guess it'll have to do."

And then Kanda stiffened and whirled around as an echoing bang resounded from behind him and a bullet whizzed past his ear, burying itself it the wood of the abandoned stall millimeters away from Allen's head.

**XXXXXX**

HAHAHA OTL I was originally going to make this chapter longer but I loved ending it like that, and so I did.  
Feel free to hate me for it~ 8DDD

**Next chapter!** A fight between Kanda and the currently unknown attacker commences, and the _real_ reason behind the townspeople's hated of Allen…?? Expect it by May 19th, everyone! 8D

Till then,**  
27**

**XXXXXX**

*******N****otes:**

**1. Timcampy and Yoshi -** If you were paying attention earlier, you'll know Timcampy is the stuffed dog Kanda won for Allen last chapter – Yoshi is the bear Lavi won for Allen, also last chapter, but I never mentioned it's name, so I didn't want anyone to get confused. Now you know c:

**2. Manchester –** Allen is referring to the city where the carnival will be playing next, which is Manchester, England. Hey, now you guys know where this is all taking place – jolly old England! :D –bricked- Anyway! If you can guess the city in which Allen, Lavi and Kanda live, I'll write you a gift fic! Need a hint? Here - who is the walrus? Who are the eggmen? Who lives in a yellow suboceanic transportation device? Write out your guess in PM and send it my way, everyone who gets it right will get a gift fic! Ready, steady, go!

**3. cashmere –** This is, for those of you who don't know, the fur of the baby goat, often used to make scarves. It is HEAVENLY soft, seriously, and oh so warm. And, best of all, it's doesn't even hurt the little goaties! It's a win-win situation – the goats get a trim and we get some flipping awesome scarves :D

**4. black cats and puppies with green scarves – **You won't get this. At all. Moving along…

**5. shinai –** As mentioned in the first chapter, Kanda takes (or, at least, used to take) kendo lessons. Kendo is a Japanese sport, er, type of swordplay maybe?, in which combatants wear these pretty cool looking armor sets and whack at each other with bamboo swords, a.k.a. _shinais._ Pardon my crappy Wapanese explanation, it's midnight and I'm not in the mood to explain better. Google it if you're curious.


	10. IMPORTANT UPDATE, PLEASE READ

I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY t-this isn't an update I'M SORRY DDD,x I APOLOGIZE A THOUSAND TIMES OVER AND I SHALL EXPLAIN THE REASONS AS TO MY TWO AND A HALF MONTH DELAY AS BEST AS I CAN.

F-first off, **FFnet refused to work for most of May**, including my ability to send PM's ( which I still can't ). So, if you sent me a PM, I can't reply, I'm so sorry ;A; I-I think I can reply to reviews, though--!!

Around the third of June I was finally able to log in again, but I couldn't update, edit my profile or reply to PM's ( I could add favorites and send reviews, though, oddly enough). But then, of course, I _had_ to get some kind of killer virus that **forced me to wipe my hardrive**, which thus deleted the in-progress chapter I had been working on.

Of course, these reasons don't pardon me from the fact that I _still_ haven't updated ( I'M SORRY ;A; ), but there's a reason separate from those I've mentioned above that justifies this:

Instead of writing the next chapter of the current Stray, after re-reading the beginning, I have decided to **re-write Stray from the very beginning.** The way it is now, I can't send the plot in the direction I want to, and my writing abilities have improved so much that I feel it would be better for both my wonderful readers and for myself to just go back to the beginning and rework some things!

I hope you all can forgive me for my EXTREME LATENESS AND CAPS LOCK ABUSE and look forward to the new and improved Stray, which should make it's debut in August ( unless unforseen circumstances complicate things ). Again, I apologize for my laziness and technical difficulties, I hope you guys aren't _too_ disappointed in me.

Lastly, congradulations to everyone who guessed correctly last chapter! The correct answer was **Liverpool**, as many of you guys guessed! To everyone who answered correctly, I will still be writing you a gift fic, not to worry! I'll probably have them up after I rework the first chapter of Stray.

To everyone who answered via review, I'm sorry, but I specified Pming me the answer for a reason, and I can't accept your guesses if you answered in a review D,: I'll try to have a similar game in the future for everyone who missed out and/or guesed incorrectly on the one last chapter.

And now I shall depart to start on the new and improved Stray – thank you all for your patience and belief in the fact that I'm not as lazy as I believe I am, you're all very, very kind and I'm very glad to have fans like you ;A;

Till then,

**-27**


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